Derby-winning trainer Charlie Lister has indicated he will be sending one of the country’s top stayers, Fear Emoski, to Crayford for the Golden Jacket.

This is great news for the competition. The dog is certainly in the top three greyhounds over longer distances and has been installed as favourite in sponsors Ladbrokes’ ante-post market at around 5-1.

Given the event starts in the heats stage on Saturday, February 8, this price seems rather short. But it is a reflection of the dog’s outstanding form.

Can she overcome that statistic about this big race which says ante-post favourites do not win?

While Fear Emoski will be a big player, she will face the best there is and we have some real quality opposition quoted in the betting lists. Hometown Honey and Shaneless Becky have big reputations.

With a winner’s prize of £17,500 we can expect the best to take part and at this point we have already had two weekends of Jacket Trial Stakes races.

The likes of the aforementioned, however, will be included purely on the basis of their known quality.

Such is the class of the greyhounds, that Crayford dogs will, as usual, find it difficult to keep the prize at home.

We have only won three of the last 39 events – the most recent in 2007 when Walk The Line trained by Patsy Cusack won.

Perhaps our best chance this year will be with Pony Bride, trained by Steve Gammon, who came third last year.

He will need to be at his best. The dog is 16-1 at the moment – a good each-way bet at those odds.

There seems to be a bit of a word going around for Hometown Honey. What she has in her favour are wins over distances up to 843m.

She has vast experience on her side and seems the ideal type to win this sort of race.
Irish raider Shaneless Becky was surprisingly beaten in her 2014 debut race at Clonmel last Sunday but is still on course for our big race. She will have one more race at Clonmel this Sunday.

The racing office will decide which 36 dogs start in the heats on February 8. The semi-final and final will be on the morning cards on February 15 and 22.